Mark Lawrenson dispels 'honeymoon' myth over Arne Slot's Liverpool start

Mark Lawrenson has rubbished the idea that Arne Slot is enjoying a 'honeymoon' period at Liverpool, insisting that the Reds have done all that was required of them after being handed a favorable run of fixtures to start the season .

Liverpool sits top of the Premier League ahead of the resumption of the domestic season this weekend, having picked up 18 points from a possible 21 to begin the campaign, with the only blot on the team's season thus far a surprise loss to Nottingham Forest in September.

The Reds' season gets back underway this weekend when Chelsea visits Anfield, and Lawrenson is tipping his old club to continue its fine form. He told Instant Casino : “I wouldn’t say Liverpool have had a ‘honeymoon’ period so far this season under Arne Slot, they’ve just beaten the teams that they’ve come up against. I see them beating Chelsea, not so much Arsenal. They’ll make the top three, and along with Arsenal and Manchester City, I think they’ll be a fair margin ahead of the rest of the table.

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“I can see this season that a lot of the teams lower down the table have improved, and they’ll be taking plenty of points off each other. I think Arsenal will win the league, by hook or by crook, and Liverpool will finish second. I’m not really sure what’ll happen with Man City as we don’t know what’s going on over there.”

Lawrenson is tipping Liverpool to be pipped to the league title by Arsenal and he thinks Slot needs to pick up silverware in one of the other competitions to avoid his first season in charge going down as a failure.

“Arne Slot will be aiming at all of the silverware available to Liverpool this season,” Lawrenson added. “It’s always been the case at the club; you aim for everything, and if you win one, that’s great. And if any more silverware is picked up, then fantastic.

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He’s got the team and the squad to do it this season. He’s inherited a world-class group of players from Jurgen Klopp with a winning mentality.

“If Liverpool don’t pick anything up this season, I’d deem that a failure for them and Slot in his opening season as manager as well as finishing out of the top three in the league, but I don’t see that happening. I’d be surprised if they didn’t make top three, though, as those three teams look to be quite far ahead of everyone else.”